Michael Jordan's former agent, David Falk, appeared at the Sports Business Journal's 4se conference in Manhattan on Tuesday. Falk was a controversial figure during his heyday and managed to raise eyebrows with his comments at the event, as well.
Falk threw some shade at LeBron James, stating, "If Jordan had cherry-picked what teams he wanted to be on and two other superstars, he would’ve won 15 championships.” He also did not rank James as a top-two player of all time and added he "probably" would make his top 10.
Comments like these were never going to go down too well.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James watches on during a game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James watches on during a game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
James' agent, Rich Paul, appeared on "The Rich Eisen Show" on Thursday, where he addressed Falk's comments. Paul wasn't a fan of a lot that was said, but particularly took issue with the part about cherry-picking.
"That's interesting to use the term 'cherry-picking,'" Paul said on The Rich Eisen Show. "Coming from someone who literally had John Thompson, Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski supporting his business. Putting superstar athletes in the lap. I just thought that was very unfair and a little beneath David Falk for a number of reasons."
Paul added that Jordan never had a reason to leave the Chicago Bulls. He was never the underdog in any of the Finals he played in and got to play under great head coaches like Phil Jackson and Dean Smith (college).
"I'm the biggest Michael Jordan fan ever, love Michael Jordan," Paul said. "And I don't think Michael Jordan would have used the term 'cherry-pick,' so I'm not up here to discredit Michael Jordan. I think Michael Jordan transcended our game that we all benefited from, right?"
Paul went on to reiterate that the comment was beneath Falk, stating that the former superagent has a "bag of cherries." Those were some strong words, and four-time NBA champion Andre Iguodala agreed with them.
"Rich ain’t lying," Iguodala wrote on Threads.
Iguodala had many battles with James in the NBA Finals when they were on the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively. They faced off on the big stage in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, with Iguodala's Warriors winning on three occasions (2015, 2017, 2018).